Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Target damage from data breach likely to be limited, says Wells FargoWells Fargo believes that the data breach at Target is likely to cost the retailer hundreds of millions of dollars, not billions of dollars as some on the Street have speculated recently. The firm still expects the company to carry out an "aggressive" share buyback program in 2014, and it keeps an Outperform rating on the stock.

Wal-Mart's Apple Pay competitor launching soon, Bloomberg saysCurrentC, the mobile payment application funded by Wal-Mart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY) and others, will see an early trial run next month, Bloomberg reported earlier, citing three people familiar with the situation. A spokesperson for Lowe's (LOW) said the consortium behind the app expects an official launch in Q3, and Bloomberg noted that CurrentC will compete with more "established" offerings such as Apple's (AAPL) Apple Pay and Google's (GOOG) Android Pay. Reference Link

Macy's considered, rejected sale/lease-backs in past, WSJ saysMacy's (M) executives have considered sale/lease-backs "over the years" and have come to negative conclusions, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the company. The report comes in the wake of Starboard Value pressuring Macy's to spin off its real estate, and sources said the activist investor sees several options, including a REIT, a Hudsonís Bayís-style real estate partnership, a sale/lease-back, or borrowing money against the properties. Separately, a source said Target (T) is still reluctant to relinquish control over its real estate. Reference Link